What if you could harness the power of the free market to solve the problems of poverty, hunger, and inequality?

To some, it sounds impossible, but Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus is doing just that. Bonsai People is an emotionally compelling look at several women receiving microcredit loans and how it empowers them. Through their stories, we see what Yunus saw – microcredit is an important tool, but financial woes are not their only problem – they have needs which simple “social business” solutions can help fulfill.

Yunus’ social businesses provide access to everything from healthcare to alternative energy.

Meet the borrowers:

Shahnaj lost her mother and was married off at 10. We meet her after a string of tragedies and see how she uses microcredit to turn her life around. However, due to previous financial debt, her road to recovery is a long and bumpy one.

Through her story, we see why Yunus felt the importance of moving beyond microcredit into other fields such as healthcare.

Melancho starts the program as a shy young woman, after a year, she has gained confidence as she learns to manage her finances. She says, “It feels good having my own money. I have 2,000 Taka ($30) in savings now.”

With time, she begins to enjoy her position as the chairwoman of her village bank center and gain confidence in the process.

Aroti is microcredit at its finest. Over the past 15 years, she’s has created several income streams from selling irrigation water to renting out homes. Both of her sons attend university.

Currently she gives back to society by having a position of power on the local village council, which is rare for a woman of rural Bangladesh. Exemplifying the message of women’s empowerment that access to credit provides, she fights actively for other women’s rights.

Ayesha is in Grameen’s “struggling member” program. She took an $8 zero interest loan, but two years later still struggles to pay it back. It has helped her to stop begging as she sells vegetables door to door, providing much needed food for her family. However, she is fighting to get beyond survival.

She lives crowded in one room with her kids and when her son breaks his arm, she is once again held back from moving out of poverty.

What happens when your gender, age and social status determine your quality of life? After a lifetime of hard labor, Surjobano, now a widow over 50 who has chosen begging as a means to survive for the past 13 years, bringing shame to her family. When she joins Grameen’s “struggling members program” it’s a step in the right direction.

She lives in a hovel that would break anyone’s heart, yet she’s thankful for a solid roof over her head. We are left wondering if, at her age, she’ll ever be able to overcome her current state.

Anarkali’s story adds humor and reveals a surprising sense of business savvy. She personifies Yunus’ belief “that all people are born entrepreneurs, it’s part of being a human being.”

She even muses that some of the other women talk about her saying “Why does she have 20 saris, when I only have one?” Her and her husband have the winning combination of solid teamwork that is seen in the most successful borrowers. Solidarity is the key to success.

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“Poor people are bonsai people. There is nothing wrong with their seed, society never allowed them the space to grow as tall as everybody else.” -Muhammad Yunus

"RATHER THAN JUST READING ABOUT YUNUS' WONDERFUL WORK, YOU CAN NOW SEE IT FOR YOURSELF”–Richard Branson